Road-grader.



No. 840,075. PATENTED JAN. 1, 1907.

L. MATTHEWS.

ROAD GRADER. APPLICATION rum) JULY31, 190a.

LUTHER MATTHEWS, OF PARIS, TENNESSEE.

RoAD-GRADER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 1, 1907.

Pplication filed July 31,1906. Serial No. 328,550.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, LUTHER MATTHEWS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Paris, in the county of Henry and State of Tennessee, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Road-Graders and I dohereby declarethe following to be a full, clear,

and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My .invention relates to wheeled roadgraders with oblique grading-bladeand annular carrier therefor; and my improvement resides in novel meansfor mounting the oblique grading-blade beam whereby it is supported and1ts oblique adjustment 15 readily effected; and in the claims appendedhereto I will specifically set out the construction involving myimprovement in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure 1 is a top view of my improved road-grader. Fig. 2 is a verticalsection showing the manner of mounting the gradingblade beam. Fig. 3 isa side view showing the wheeled frame adjusted to set the grading-bladebeam upon the surface. Fig. 4 shows the roller-bearing in thegrader-beam mounting.

The frame comprises a longitudinal draftbeam 1, to the front end ofwhich the tongue is pivotally connected, a cross-beam 2, and a circularcarrier 3 for the blade-beam and connecting the longitudinal and crossbeams, the intersection of which is central with the circular carrier.The grader-beam 4 is of suitable construction to provide a steelscrapingblade 5, and it is mounted by a post 6, which passes through andis supported in bearings at the intersection of the longitudinal andcross beams, and it is on this post that the blade-carrying beam isturned horizontally to adjust and set it to the desired oblique positionin its relation to the draft-line to give its blade the scraping actionsuited to the condition of the road-surface. The grading-beam preferablyhas a length greater than the diameter of its circular carrier and has aguide-yoke 7, fixed to and rising from its upper edge at each end andwhich embraces the circular carrier. These guideyokes are each providedwith a bearing-roll 8, which rests upon the upper edge of said circularcarrier, and on these two roll-bearings the grader-beam is supported andrendered of easy adjustment and relieving thereby all strain and theweight of the beam upon its central post. The frame is mounted upon apair of side wheels 9 10, one of which, 9, is mounted on a crank-axle9*, fixed on the cross-beam, while a rear supporting-wheel 11 is mountedon a crank-axle 12, fixed on the rear end of the longitudinal beam. Onthese crank-axles the frame is adjusted to set the grader-blade to cutthe desired depth in the ground and to support it above the ground ingoing from place to place out of use by means which I shall now state.Each crank-axle has an inner crank-arm 13, to which a horizontal rod 14is connected, the rod of the center crank-axle extending rearward andthe rod of the rear crank-axle extending forward, each rod connected toa shifting-arm 15, pivoted to and rising from each side of thelongitudinal beam. At the pivoted end of each shifting-arm the beam hasa rack 16, and each shifting-arm has a dog 17, movable in guides 18 onthe arm and adapted to en gage the rack, so that by disengaging the dogfrom the rack and setting the shifting-arm forward or backward from avertical position will cause the crank-axle to be deflected from avertical position and set the frame and its grader-beam down to aworking position. It will be noted that only one of the side wheels isadjustable, and the purpose of this is to set the scraper-beam lower atone end than at the other, so that the grading will be made to give thecrown form to the road.- The shifting-arms are within reach of therider, whose seat 19 is mounted on the rear end of the draft-beam.

The grader-beam is free to swing on its center post and suspendingroll-bearings, so that'it may be easily turned or swung in eitherdirection to set it to the desired oblique angle, and the upper end ofthe post is provided with a crank 20, b y which to turn it. To look thegrader-beam when set, its center post has a fixed circular toothed plate21 on the top of the draft-beam, and a pawl 22, pivoted on the beam,engages the teeth 23 and locks the beam, so that the pawl need only bedisengaged from the teeth to allow the grader-beam to be turned by thecrank, and as the beam-carrier is concentric with the center post thebeam-suspending rolls travel on the top of the circular member of theframe and is suspended thereon by the rolls, as in Fig. l.

Referring to Fig. 2, it will be noticed that one of the frame-supportingwheels is by its crank-shaft rendered adjustable, and it is by suchadjustment that one end of the scraperblade is raised and lowered. It islowered to cause that end of the scraper to cut into the gro und, whilethe non-adji'lstable supportingwheei normally maintains the other end ofthe scraper-blade from cutting into the ground, and this lessens thedraft of the scraper and by its oblique position causes the earth to bepulled from the lower to the higher end of the scraper. When not atwork, the lower end of the scraping-beam is raised to bring its scrapingedge horizontal and above the ground.

I claim- 1. In a road-grader, a frame having a circular member, agrading-beam having a post by which it is mounted in the frame centrallyof its circular member, guide-hangers rising from the ends of the beam,bearingrrolls mounted in the hangers and supported on said circularframe member, and means on the frame for locking the beam: when-set.

2. In a road-grader, a frame having a. circular member, a grading-beamhaving a post by which it is mounted in the frame centrally of itscircular member, guide-hangers rising from the ends of the beam,bearing-rolls mounted in the hangers and supported on said circularframe member, a circular toothed plate fixed on the center post at thetop of. the frame, and a pawl pivoted on the frame for engaging andlocking the gradingbeam when set.

3. In a road-grader and in combination with the oblique grading-beam, apair of side supporting-wheels one of which is mounted on an adjustablecrank-axle, a supportingwheel mounted on-a crank-axleat the rear of theframe-and means connecting and adjusting said crank-axlesfor raising andlowering the frameand the grading-beam.

4. Ina road-grader, a frame havinga circular member, supporting-wheelsfor said frame,.a grading-beam, hangersfor suspending it upon. thecircular frame. member, meansfor obliquely adjusting it upon. saidcircular frame member, and means for fixing said grader-beam .inits adjustedposition.

In testimony whereof I have-signed my name-to thisspecification in thepresenceof two subscribing witnesses.

LUTHER MATTHEWS.

Witnesses:

DUDLEY PORTER, J. P. MATTHEW-s.

